Warning: contains major spoilers ahead for Children of the Atom #4!
The X-Men have taken the Avengers' most iconic line and made it their own - again. Children of the Atom #4 continues following a group of teen heroes who are trying to get to Krakoa. With the Hellfire Gala happening and humans crossing into Krakoa, they see a window of opportunity.
The Children of the Atom are a new group of young heroes who model themselves after iconic X-Men. This teen team is made up of Cyclops-Lass, Cherub, Marvel Guy, Daycrawler, and Gimmick. They have been attempting different ways of crossing into Krakoa, but have continually failed. Now, the Children of the Atom may have gotten into more trouble than they bargained for.
Children of the Atom #4 was created by Vita Ayala, Paco Medina, David Curiel, and Vc Travis Lanham. Towards the end of the issue, the Children of the Atom make their move towards Krakoa, but they find themselves in a fight with the U-Men - a group of extremists who want to become enhanced humans with mutant powers. The U-Men capture them, but one member - Daycrawler - isn't in the group and he gets some major help. When he returns, he brings the X-Men and lets out a rallying cry: "X-Men X-ssemble!"
This is clearly a riff on the iconic line, "Avengers Assemble!" The line has become synonymous with the Avengers, so it makes sense that a superhero superfan would want to have a significant moment of their own with the phrase. Ironically enough, this isn't the first time that the X-Men have stolen this line. Previously, in X-Men (2015) #19, Cyclops hijacked the line, but more directly, saying "X-Men Assemble!" He was met with remarks from his teammates about how the line is already taken. This time, however, at least Daycrawler attempted to change it up a bit, throwing an "X" in to make it "X-ssemble". While silly, this also speaks to how the X-Men generally do things.
Many X-Men comic titles and team names tend to begin with - or contain - an "X". This includes the X-Men, X-gene, X-Force, Weapon X, Professor X, Shadow-X, X-23, Earth-X, X of Swords, X-Factor, X-Calibre, X-Club, X-Corp, X-Women, and X-Tinction Agenda. Throwing an 'X' in front of everything automatically associates it with the mutant heroes and of course their young fans keep up the pattern. The fact that the line is taken isn't even very surprising. The most surprising thing is that Cyclops ran with "X-Men Assemble", instead of trying out X-ssemble to begin with. With the 'X' thrown in front, there is a general sense of consistency and an attempt to make it their own - even if it's one of the laziest attempts to take over an iconic tagline. The X-Men have tried taking the Avengers' line, for at least the second time, but they really should find their own rally cry, because this one just doesn't fit their team.